It's all starting to feel very real...
The Elizabeth line might not be running just yet, but urban travel app Citymapper has just unveiled its Elizabeth line journey planner.
When you log into Citymapper now, it gives you the option to 'use' the Elizabeth line — and it demonstrates how travelling to and from certain bits of London (and beyond) is about the get a darn sight zippier.
Take a journey from Paddington to Abbey Wood. Right now, it'll take you 56 minutes, with two changes:
Enter the Elizabeth line, and that journey's suddenly slashed to 37 minutes, with NO changes:
It's clear that the Elizabeth line is so much more than a shiny new train set — over the years, it's going to save DAYS off people's travelling times. We're really hoping Citymapper makes this 'time saved on commute' thing a part of the interface:
Of course even when the Elizabeth line 'launches' in May/June 2022, it'll only be the first of three remaining phases. Phase 1 (imminent) sees 10 new stations on the Central line open up. Phase 2 (autumn 2022) connects up services from Reading in the west and Shenfield in the east, with the central section. Phase 3 (spring 2023) sees everything fully connected and flowing.
Citymapper's already got this in hand, showing you what journey times will be, depending on what phase the Elizabeth line is on.
One thing Citymapper doesn't tell you yet it how much each trip will cost, although we've previously been promised by TfL that PAYG fares within zones 1-6 will be the same as the fares on existing TfL services.
Right, we'll leave you to have a play with it on the app. You know you want to.
